Evolving Machinations
by Fire Lord Azula
Summary: Azula wins the fight against Zuko, and Katara flees. Years later, in a dystopian world, the teenage Fire Lord is devastating parts of the Earth Kingdom when Katara comes to stop her. Azutara, oneshot.


This was written for the Riding The Dragon Spring Festival Slash Exchange on LiveJournal, featuring Zuko and Azula in slash and/or pre-slash relationships. The giftee was fierybear; her prompt was the summary.

**Disclaimer:** I make no claim on the characters of _Avatar: The Last Airbender_. They belong solely to their creators, and I garner no profit from their usage.

Two years. So much had changed in such a relatively short span of time. The world itself had been reshaped, the great continent that had once belonged to Earth King Kuei finding itself reduced to a handful of stubborn earthen strongholds amid acute pagodas bearing the banner of black and crimson occupation. New Ozai, formerly and still fondly referred to by the rebellion as Omashu, had truly lived up to its name, becoming the headquarters of the reigning Phoenix King. Industrialized beyond recognition, all its terrestrial charm was lost to billowing factories and steel architecture. Even the Northern Water Tribe, spared for centuries by its inhospitable position at the apex of the earth, suffered great losses at the hands of the teenage despot now lording over the Fire Nation. The westernmost corner of the poles had been fractured from the mainland, a desolate iceberg no longer fit for life left to drift out to sea.

Katara reflected on these simple truths with grim resolve. Even if the rebellion were to succeed in defeating father and daughter, the planet would never be the same; it had been irreparably altered. But even with things at their bleakest, she never quite lost the sliver of hope that had fueled her tireless efforts from the moment she'd discovered the Avatar in the iceberg. If she succeeded in quelling the suffering of one village, one family, _one person_, she would have done her part.

Against what perhaps seemed the logical assumption at first blush, she thought the world would've been better off had Azula remained unhinged. Paranoia in itself was a weakness of the mind; with a return to violent clarity, the Firebending prodigy became nigh infallible as she had been prior to the arrival of that abysmal comet. She could've been toppled; could've slipped far enough into the chaos of her mind for someone to get the best of her in her greatest moment of vulnerability.

But she had recovered, the pain and anguish of her enemies the cure, and that recovery spelled the last dying gasp of the world's chance at healing.

While the Fire Lord had always been deranged, one stood a far better chance against unfocused fury over sharpened wit. With the honed attacks and strategic advances made over the past few years against the deteriorating fortress that was once the great (reclaimed) stronghold of Ba Sing Se, Azula had systematically severed what lingered of the Earth Kingdom's defenses. Those who had survived Phoenix King Ozai's relentless incineration of the continent during the rise of the comet took to the walled city for protection and solidarity. Now it, too, crumbled beneath the might of the Fire Nation's relentless advances.

In spite of banishing virtually the entire palace in her bout of mania, Azula's forces had progressively trickled back into servitude, lured by the taste of inevitable victory. Fear had its own hand in drawing them back into the fold: it was far better to be on the winning side than the losing, and the young lord strongly believed that if you weren't with her, you were against her. That creed survived as a remnant of her aberrant episode, carried with her as a reminder never to trust unconditionally.

With Kuei reluctant to dispatch anymore of his decimated forces, the master Waterbender took it upon herself to end the reign of tyranny wrought forth by the overzealous Fire Lord Azula. She herself had shown an unwillingness to involve other parties in what could amount to a suicide mission. With a tearful goodbye and three water pouches secured to her hip, she set off to intercept the Fire Nation's next offensive. As luck would - or wouldn't - have it, the Fire Lord herself was rumored to lead the charge, a final and decisive strike against the fragmented wall that stood between her and absolute victory.

Katara wasn't entirely unstudied in the ways of espionage - it was, after all, how she had tracked down her mother's murderer. This time, however, she would need to do it completely on her own. Azula's lightning had rendered Zuko nearly paralyzed; a few years later, he was still left unable to walk without assistance, hindered by what appeared to be a perpetual limp. Physicians blamed damage to nodes connected to the sciatic nerve for his unsteady, at times painful gait. As a consequence of such irreparable injury, the prognosis for a full recovery had been dim. The staff fashioned from whale bone, topped by a granite phoenix to symbolize the hope of rebirth, had been Sokka and Toph's gift to inspire and aid him in reclaiming self-reliance. Katara's memory was sharp, however, and she remembered his instructions during their objective.

Dismounting her eelhound, the Waterbender utilized a towering, uplifted ridge of earth to shroud herself from view, a remnant of previous stands taken to defend the cracked fortification behind her. Her position granted her a clear enough view of the zeppelin parked not fifty yards in front of her, doubtlessly the Fire Lord's if the ornate dragon coiling around the airship's bow was any indication.

Before the teenage despot had a chance to disembark, boulders dropped like gratuitous hail from above, the resounding clangs upon each heavy stone smacking against the hull near deafening to those aboard. Tilting her head toward the source, Katara spied the reformed Terra Team perched atop the wall, slabs of jagged earth at the ready. Though she quickly found herself more fearful than thankful of their presence, it was comforting to know Kuei had her back. In the same breath, they had put themselves in harm's way by the King's order to protect her. If they died as a result of her reckless mission, she would never forgive herself.

Quicker than could be registered with the naked eye, a tendril of lightning collided with the wall beneath the Earthbenders' feet. Screams of shock - some pained, Katara noted with a surge of nausea - permeated the air, gouts of azure flame tailing the brutal strike.

Impulse control had never been a strongpoint of Hakoda's daughter. Drive had eclipsed the very real fear felt only moments prior. Skirting chunks of earthen debris as she ascended the lowered gangplank, her thumb exacted the cork from the rightmost pouch at her belt; from it, a curl of water emerged, shot from her palm to freeze into daggers of solid ice as it neared its target.

But for all her effort, the Fire Lord was swifter. A spinning roundhouse generated a whirling disk of concentrated blue heat, rendering her offensive a benign poof of steam. The booted heel to formulate the fiery attack touched down upon the metal flooring with an anticlimactic clang.

"Did the Earth King send you to be a martyr, peasant?"

Sighing to alleviate her irritation, the Waterbender stared down the girl across from her. "I came on my own."

The declaration earned a head-tilt. "Oh? Are you sure? It looks more like a sacrifice to me."

Katara reclined imperceptibly on her heel; the poignant leer being directed her way sent an unsettling tingle up her spine. It could be for no other reason - the air was _sweltering_ around them, the Fire Lord's presence more to blame than the sun.

"Could it be…" Azula continued without cue, voice strangely conversational without losing its typical undercurrent of malice, "…that the Earth King decided to pawn you off, through marriage, perhaps? It's really all you have left." The dark-haired girl paused to regard her enemy with no less than her full attention, lips twisting into a wry grin. "Then again, it's hardly a worthy offering. You may be a formidable bender, I'll give you that, but you're still just a filthy Water Tribe peasant. Then again, if I were to have you cleaned up, you might show promise."

Lips curling in undisguised repulsion, the Waterbender's right hand drifted to the pouches at her side. "_Stay back_, Azula."

The royal in question heaved an exaggerated sigh, upper torso briefly sagging to denote false resignation. "Do you really want to fight me without an endless supply of water to draw from? Once I extinguish what you have, you'll be defenseless. You're better off surrendering."

"I'd rather go out fighting than submit to you!"

A hand lifted from Azula's side to wave dismissively, squaring her shoulders to give the appearance of looking taller and thus more authoritarian. In spite of her effort, Katara still stood a vexing inch or two above her. "Suit yourself, peasant."

"And that's another thing," the dark-skinned girl nearly spat. "You have no respect for _anyone_. Look at you, trying to intimidate me into coming with you. You couldn't get anyone through honest means if you tried! All you can do is force yourself on people because you're _hopeless_. Isn't that right, _my Lord_?"

The slightest beat of hesitation preceded Azula's reply. "Watch your tongue."

In but a wink, the defiant Waterbender had drawn a thick tendril of water from the leather pouch of before, the cool liquid lancing out to strike the floor with a riveting splash at the Fire Lord's feet, stray droplets dampening her boots and the lowermost portion of polished greaves.

What would otherwise be taken as a grave insult _intrigued_ the pale girl, instead, arms folding benignly across her armored chest. "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

Katara's expression was austere, a step away from being resigned to an unknown fate. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you. I won't let you hurt anymore innocent people. This ends here."

A clawed finger pointed upward to indicate what remained of the Terra Team. Those that hadn't been grievously injured tended to fallen comrades, the attack upon their invader wholly abandoned. "Them? They attacked me first. Hardly innocent. But I see your point. Do you honestly think you can stop me from killing them if I wish?"

"Yes." The answer belied no hesitation.

"And how is that?"

Forcing an exhale through clenched teeth, the Waterbender suddenly strode forward, disgust permeating her tongue like a thick layer of bile at the thought of implementing her desperate, heat-of-the-moment scheme. With her water supply dwindling, her options were limited; she wouldn't delude herself into thinking otherwise. Her boldness had seemingly stunned her enemy into temporary paralysis, for Azula had yet to move at her approach.

Snagging the Fire Lord's cape in a tight-fisted grip to hold her in place, the dark-skinned girl forced their lips together, more teeth than the softness normally given to such motion. A spiteful part of her took pleasure at hearing the muffled gasp against her mouth. Breaking the kiss with a firm bite upon the other girl's lower lip, Katara drew back to observe her handiwork. The Firebender was flustered despite herself, gold eyes alight with shock.

"Call off your attack on Ba Sing Se."

Nearly sputtering, the young lord fumbled to compose herself. "You hardly have any leverage to propose such a thing."

The hand furled in Azula's cape tightened its hold; the other wedged a freshly conjured ice-spike beneath the prodigy's armor, directly over her heart. "How's this for leverage? Don't think I won't _end you here_, Azula. After all you've done to the world, you're asking for it." The tip pressed harder into the Fire Lord's chest, pricking her through the thick fabric of her tunic. "Don't think of breathing fire in my face, either. The moment I feel heat, it's over."

A thick brow twitched beneath the strain of her ultimatum. Daring not to breathe, Azula kept her body impeccably still. "_Fine_."

Satisfied with her grip on the situation, Katara nodded resolutely, secretly relieved she didn't need to make good on her threat. The Fire Lord was a truly horrible person, but to _kill_… stood against her morality. She wasn't naïve enough to believe Azula would adhere to her promise for long, but the temporary victory gave the rebellion another shot at regrouping.

Confident that her enemy had been rendered impotent by her mixed signals, she released her hold on the girl's cape. For her part, the prodigy made no move to retaliate, hands kept benignly at her sides.

Taking her leave - and fully expecting to hear the roar of flames at her back upon descending the gangplank - Katara cast a furtive glance over her shoulder to find not anger, but _confusion_ on the face of the Fire Lord. Had she really shocked Azula so viscerally? The girl acted as though she'd never been kissed before… or perhaps the Waterbender read too far into it. It was most likely the shock of being threatened so flagrantly. She highly doubted anyone had ever stood up to the spoiled prodigy before this day.

…But part of her _almost_ wished it had been the first scenario.


End file.
